New state data shows the pandemic continues to affect student progress

New state data shows while districts are making marked improvements in chronic absenteeism and graduation rates, at the state level, academic performance is still underperforming pre-pandemic scores.

The California Department of Education recently released the 2023-24 dashboard, a color-coded centralized data portal that details how schools and districts are doing in academic performance, graduation rates and chronic absences among other markers. On the Peninsula and across the state, minimal growth in academic performance indicates Covid-19 is having a longer-term effect on students than educators had hoped.

“I am continually inspired by the unwavering dedication of our Monterey County school districts and educators, who work hard to prepare and deliver high-quality instruction tailored to the diverse needs of all learners,” said Superintendent of Schools Deneen Guss in an email.

“While much remains to be done, our strong partnerships with district leaders and their steadfast efforts demonstrate that we are moving in the right direction,” said Guss. “Together, we will continue to strive for educational excellence for every child in Monterey County.”

Recent state testing data shows that statewide, students are 13.2 points below the English language arts standard and 47.6 points below the math standard. This data reflects Monterey County numbers, which despite some growth, also still remain below the standard.

Local districts over-performed the state average in four and five-year graduation rates, which remains about the same as last year at 86.7%.

Monterey Peninsula Unified’s 2023 graduation which celebrated its four high schools: Monterey, Central Coast, Seaside and Marina. (Molly Gibbs – Monterey Herald).

Pacific Grove had the most growth in this area, with 95% of students graduating in 2024, compared to about 86% in 2023. Monterey Peninsula Unified saw a two-point growth, bringing its graduation rate to 95%. In Carmel, graduation rates fell about three points from last year’s rate of 98.3%.

Peninsula schools are also trending higher than the state average when it comes to college and career readiness. P.G. and Carmel Unified both had around 65% of students ready for life after high school, with Monterey Peninsula Unified seeing a seven-point increase to 61%

Monterey Peninsula Unified has set its default class offerings and graduation requirements to reflect the A-G requirements for admission to a CSU or UC, according to Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh. The district has also “doubled down” on Career Technical Education pathways, which allow students to gain technical and occupational knowledge.

Another big factor in this data is chronic absenteeism, which refers to students who have missed 10% or more of their instructional days while enrolled in school.

Even though the statewide absenteeism rates have fallen to 18% compared to last year’s 24%, the pandemic has proved to be a hindrance to this marker. Prior to the pandemic, the rate was much lower at 12%.

Diffenbaugh has placed an emphasis on reducing chronic absenteeism rates, which seems to be working for the district. The rate of chronically absent students has dropped to 14%, compared to about 26% last year.

“We’ve really focused hard on an attendance campaign and communicating thoroughly with families,” said Diffenbaugh. “It’s a combination of raising awareness, identifying barriers and ensuring you have a team that’s monitoring data and helping families overcome those barriers.”

Overall, the Peninsula is trending better than the statewide average in this area. P.G. Unified remains about the same as last year with around 15% chronically absent students while Carmel Unified saw a seven-point drop to about 12%.

While the pandemic has had an influence, there are still other factors keeping absenteeism rates high.

The state data showed that Black, Native American and Pacific Islander students were over twice as likely to be chronically absent than their White peers. Foster youth, students with disabilities, socioeconomically disadvantaged students and homeless students are also among those most chronically absent.

According to Guss, some common reasons for absenteeism amongst these groups tend to be transportation challenges, medical appointments, students taking care of younger siblings and inability to isolate when illnesses hit a household.

“We continue to … celebrate the growth we are seeing, but we’ve got to acknowledge the fact that we continue to face challenges,” said Adamson. “It’s critical that we work to provide needed support for our students to continue to make that growth and close opportunity gaps.”

He pointed to increased mental health concerns as well as increased dysregulated behavior amongst young students as a few post-pandemic hurdles. Another concern is that “we’ve improved (on absenteeism) but still 14% of our kids are missing over 10% of the school year and that’s significant.”

After the pandemic, districts received federal funding to support schools getting back on track, but that funding was unique and is widely running out.

“Thinking that after a few years, schools will have solved this, is, I think, wishful thinking,” said Diffenbaugh. “I don’t think as a society we’ve reconciled with the need for sustained investment over time to really ensure that our students are able to be successful despite a once in a century pandemic.”